Losses grow at Liberty Global

Liberty Global posted a fourth quarter net loss of $752.6 million compared to a net loss of $197.2 million for the same period last year.

The company's losses grew despite adding subscribers, increasing revenue and generating more money from operations at its cable systems in 15 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. For the year, it lost $788.9 million versus $422.6 million in 2007.

Fourth-quarter revenue was $2.6 billion, up 4 percent from $2.5 billion a year earlier. For the year Liberty Global generated $10.6 billion revenue, up 17 percent from $9 billion a year earlier.

The company added 2.4 million subscribers worldwide in 2008. Nearly 17 million customers subscribe to Liberty Global's television, voice or Internet services.

The losses climbed as the company increased spending on infrastructure, rolling out very high-speed technology and it says it accelerated some infrastructure investment in the fourth quarter to take advantage of a discount from a vendor.